Ahankara, or false ego, is transformed into the demigods, the controlling directors of material affairs. As an instrument, the false ego is represented as different senses and sense organs, and as the result of the combination of the demigods and the senses, material objects are produced. In the material world, we are producing so many things, and this is called advancement of civilization, but factually the advancement of civilization is a manifestation of the false ego. By false ego, all material things are produced as objects of enjoyment. One has to cease increasing artificial necessities in the form of material objects. One great acarya, Narottama dasa Thakura, has lamented that when one deviates from a pure consciousness of Vasudeva, or Krishna consciousness, he becomes entangled in material activities. The exact words he uses are, sat-sang chadi’ kainu asate vilasa/ te-karane lagila ye karma-bandha-phansa: “I have given up the pure status of consciousness because I wanted to enjoy in the temporary, material manifestation; therefore I have been entangled in the network of actions and reactions.”
Source: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (2014 edition), “Srimad Bhagavatam”, Third Canto, Chapter 26 – Text 26
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